Stuck in Japanese lift during quake? No problem – water and toilets to be inside!

Elevators in Japan could soon be equipped with toilets and emergency drinking water for those trapped inside during an earthquake, an official said Wednesday. The next "big one" could leave up to 17,000 people stuck in lifts, the government estimates.

The toilets may consist
of collapsible cardboard material with a waterproof bag or
absorbent material inside, AFP reported.

Some of the country's newer lifts already have small seating
areas for elderly riders, and installing toilet facilities
underneath could be a possibility.

The
move is a result of a meeting between officials from the
Infrastructure Ministry and elevator industry bodies, an official
from the Elevator Makers Association said.

The announcement comes after a 7.8 magnitude quake left dozens of people in
elevators for over an hour Saturday. A total of 19,000 elevators
stopped in the capital and neighboring prefectures, according to
the Infrastructure Ministry.

Although most of the elevators automatically stopped at the
nearest floor and opened their doors, 14 lifts were stranded
between stories.

It's
a situation that is likely to happen again, as Japan – which sits
at the crossroads of four tectonic plates – is regularly hit by
powerful earthquakes.

In fact, the government estimates that the next “big one” may
leave up to 17,000 people stranded in elevators. Seismologists
say a massive quake will almost certainly hit Tokyo in the coming
decades.

Japan has about 620,000 elevators in public or commercial
buildings. About 20 percent of those are in Tokyo.

Twelve people were injured in Saturday's earthquake, according to
the Tokyo fire department and local media. The quake was centered
on a remote spot in the Pacific Ocean, about 900 km (550 miles)
south of Tokyo, but was felt throughout the country.

In 2011, a magnitude-9 earthquake and subsequent tsunami led to
the meltdown of three reactors at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear
Plant, causing the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl
in 1986. Costly clean-up efforts are still ongoing, as the
plant's operators have been struggling to contain radioactive
water at the site.